


The Stars, For You

by goodnyte



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Established Relationship, M/M, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 02:11:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9051151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodnyte/pseuds/goodnyte
Summary: Keith has never had someone to really spend the holidays with. And he's never had to think of a gift. He needs a little help.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My Secret Santa submission for tay-drawrs @ tumblr! I hope you enjoy it. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Keith had known Shiro for years. He’d been dating him for months and even still, Shiro managed to surprise him.

“We should go grocery shopping tomorrow,” Shiro said absent-mindedly, his nose buried in a physics text book as his hand scribbled down either notes or a grocery list. Keith was sitting across their kitchen-slash-living room on the couch, bundled in a blanket with his own textbook on his lap. He looked up just as Shiro folded his own book closed. “I’d like to cook something special for the holiday,” he said with a grin in Keith’s direction.

None of this should have been earth-shattering but Keith couldn’t stop himself from staring, the engine of his brain failing to engage and start. Shiro’s smile faltered some, his head tilting with concern.

“Or we could just do takeout,” he said with an awkward chuff of a laugh, standing up from the kitchen table and padding his way over to the couch. “But either way, we should make it an  _ occasion _ ,” Shiro said as he sat down next to Keith, pressing their sides together. “Can I get some blanket?”

Frowning still, Keith threw the blanket open to let Shiro get under it too, bundling them both under its warm weight. It gave him just enough time to string some words together. “But—aren’t you going home?” he asked, his brows furrowed.

For as long as he’d known him, Shiro had spent the holidays with his family. Keith remembered waiting for him in their hometown when he’d gone to college a year before Keith got to follow; and he went home, every year, leaving Keith alone in the dorm for the duration of the break.

_ Come spend the break with us _ , Shiro would ask, nearly begging.  _ I don’t want you to be alone. _

_ I’m alright, _ Keith would say, and it was true. He didn’t mind being on campus alone; it was quiet and peaceful and it was only for a few weeks. Their hometown held too many memories he’d rather not dig up if he could avoid it. He was glad that Shiro had family to return to, but he would rather keep his distance.

All of this was floating around Keith’s head as he tried to understand Shiro’s reply: “No, I thought I’d stay here for break this time,” he said, the grin he’d sported earlier now largely washed away. Keith hated when that happened; he hated when he was the cause for the loss of that lovely smile. “Is something the matter?”

Keith shook his head, earning some of that smile back. “No, no. I’m just surprised, is all,” he said, chewing at his bottom lip in thought. “I don’t think we’ve ever spent the holidays together,” he said, closing the book on his lap and staring at the wall in thought. “Your family is okay with it?”

Shiro nodded but there was a slump in his shoulders that betrayed how much he missed home. “Yeah, they’re alright. Mom always wants me home but I told them about all the work I still had left,” he said, waving a hand towards the pile of notebooks laid out on the table in front of him.

“But I don’t intend to do work the whole time,” he said, shifting to half-hug Keith, nuzzling against him. Keith felt his face go warm and he tried to hide against Shiro’s neck, not wanting to be blushing over something so silly. “We can celebrate, if you want to. Mom never did a whole lot but we’d have a nice meal at least,” he said, looking for Keith for guidance, his gaze questioning. “But we can try to do something more.”

Keith let Shiro settle in against him, burrowing himself against his side and shifting so Shiro could get his arm around him. “More,” he echoed. He didn’t even know what the baseline was; he had no way to even start to think about what  _ more _ was. “I usually don’t celebrate at all,” he mumbled, suddenly feeling a little ashamed of it. What kind of person didn’t celebrate  _ at all _ ?

The kind of person who’d never had a family to call his own, he supposed.

He didn’t want to linger on that, though. This was good news and he could feel his heart growing warm with the reality of it.

“What would you like for Christmas?” he asked Shiro after a few long moments of letting the news sink in, thinking that was what one usually asked when you had someone to spend the holidays with.

Shiro laughs, the sound a soothing rumble against Keith’s side. “Aw, Keith,” he says, shifting just enough so that he has the leverage to place a kiss to the top of Keith’s head. “I just want to spend the time with you.”

Keith furrowed his brow – ah, that wouldn’t do. “That doesn’t seem all that special,” he murmured. A Christmas gift was supposed to be something unique, something  _ more _ .

Shiro leaned away from the snuggle-fest and for a horrible second Keith thought he might have said something wrong. But Shiro still had on lopsided grin as he shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. He leaned in close and Keith held his breath, his eyes locked onto Shiro’s warm grey gaze. “There’s nothing more special to me,” Shiro said as he leaned to press their lips together, smiling into the kiss as Keith let him in, pulled him close.

Keith hummed into the kiss, his thoughts still churning. This was special; it always would be.

But Shiro deserved more. He had to think of something.

.o.

“Why not just get him a gift card?” Lance said as he dropped his books into the library’s return bin, the sound of them crashing to the bottom a perfect punctuation for his stupid suggestion. “Oh, come on Keith. You’re overthinking this,” he said, returning Keith’s glare with an aggressive shrug of his shoulders.

Keith shook his head. “I can’t just get him a gift card. It’s not good enough,” he said. It had been three days since Shiro had told him he’d be staying for the holidays and he was already clawing for ideas; asking Lance was an act of desperation. Hunk hadn’t been helpful and even a covert text to Shiro’s mother had proven remarkably useless.

“Trust me, if someone gave me a gift card for something awesome like, I dunno,” Lance started to counter, needing to stop to tap a thoughtful finger on his chin. “Panera,” he said, jabbing the finger at Keith. “I’d be more than happy.”

Keith didn’t know what to do with that. “I am not getting Shiro a gift card for Panera,” he said shortly, turning to leave. “I need to go help him set up the Christmas tree he picked up yesterday,” he said, bringing a gloved hand up to pinch at the bridge of his nose. “He’s good at this,” he said with a sigh.

Lance snorted. “He’s had more practice, is all,” he said, shrugging. “I’ve got to finish all my work up before heading home tomorrow,” he said, pointing with his thumb towards the library behind him. “If I don’t see you, have a good break, huh?”

“Yeah,” Keith said, giving his classmate a small wave. “You too.”

He turned to go and had just taken a few steps when Lance’s voice crowed down the library steps: “Oh! Hey, mullet,” he said. Keith turned around, scowling – leave it to Lance to ruin a good-enough goodbye. “Try asking Matt Holt. He was Shiro’s lab partner for a while, maybe he knows something,” he said.

The idea clicked in Keith’s mind; it was a good suggestion. “Alright,” he said, nodding. “Will do. Thanks.”

.o.

Matt, it turned out, didn’t know all that much. “We never talked much about anything outside of class,” he said with an amiable shrug, clearly not hurt much by this reality. Keith could appreciate that; a friendship built on shared work and not much else. He knew Shiro and Matt’s projects had received a lot of attention from the physics faculty, probably because it was so focused and good. 

“What I do know is that he’s into physics for the stars,” he’d said before Keith could thank him and part ways without bothering him further. “I’m sure you know that too, but,” he’d said, giving Keith a knowing smile. “I think it helps to remember,” he said.

Keith frowned, thinking about it. He had known that, a piece of information about Shiro that he’d stashed away ages ago because they so rarely commiserated about school. “Right,” he said, nodding as he thought about what on Earth he could do with this. “Thanks,” he said anyway, grateful for the reminder. They parted ways with smiles, Keith unable to help grinning at this friend of Shiro’s.

He liked people who liked Shiro. It was as simple as that. 

What on Earth… what on Earth. Keith thought on it his walk back to their flat:  _ for the stars _ , echoed in his head. Shiro seemed so grounded but it was obvious to anyone who knew him where his heart was; Matt could see it. Keith could see it.

He had an idea.

.o.

“I thought you said we were going to see some Christmas lights,” Shiro said with a gently teasing note to his voice, walking beside Keith with his gloved hands pressed inside the pockets of his peacoat. He looked so good in that jacket, but he really only wore it for nice occasions.

Keith cursed how transparent he could be; Shiro was expecting something, and he hoped desperately that it didn’t disappoint. He tried to ignore the hammer of his heart in his chest, pressing onward; he’d memorized this route, the destination clear in his mind.

“We are,” he said, glancing at Shiro with a raised eyebrow. “In a way,” he said, pushing onward past where the sidewalks could lead them, hiking up through the small copse of trees nestled behind campus.

They mostly needed to be somewhere with the least amount of light they could manage. A little more, a few steps more, trying to avoid the heat of Shiro’s gaze against the back of his neck. “Here,” he said, as soon as the trees enveloped them, blocking out enough of the fluorescent glow emitting from campus. It wasn’t pitch dark but it was good enough; they could see the sky. 

Shiro stopped short, looking around with a frown. “Here?” he echoed, his head tilted in confusion. 

Keith couldn’t help smiling which turned Shiro’s confused frown into a cautious grin. “Yeah,” he said, pulling up short and looking up to Shiro. He pointed upwards through the gap the between the trees encircling them. “I know it’s not Christmas yet,” he said, and he hated it like it sounded like an excuse. “School’s not even out, but I didn’t want to take a chance if we didn’t get another clear night before the actual day, y’know?”

Shiro, expression still puzzled, followed where Keith was pointing. He looked up and Keith wished he could bottle the moment his eyes caught the view. A smile brighter than any star above them broke out on his handsome features, the corners of his eyes crinkling with the force of hard he was grinning. “Wow, Keith,” he breathed, arms reaching to cross over his broad chest, an impressed air about his stance.

Relief snaked through Keith; he allowed himself to look up, letting himself remember the view he’d come to love over the years. Stars swirled above them, galaxies brushed over the inky sky like half-finished watercolors, the work of someone who’d started with good intentions and quit when they decided what they’d made was beautiful enough. And it really was -- beautiful enough. 

“I found this place while staying on campus over the holidays my first year,” he explained, torn between staring at the great view of the sky and his great view of Shiro. He glanced and chose the latter, his heart swelling at the sight of how enraptured he was. “It’s just far enough away from everything that you can see… everything,” he said with a considering hum. “I wanted to get you something better but it’s all I could think of on short notice,” he added hastily; it was such a lame excuse…

_ For the stars _ . That’s why Shiro did anything. He could see it clearer than ever now. The wide grin, the light of some distant galaxy brightening the glint of his grey eyes, the way he held himself, open to the sky, ready to jump in if given the chance. 

It took a few long moments for Shiro to glance back down at him. “It’s beautiful,” he said lowly, undoing the arms crossed across his chest -- before Keith knew it, he was being hugged, strong arms wrapping around him, soaking away the little bit of cold that was managing to cling to him after so long in the elements. No; he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to feel cold again.

Shiro’s peacoat smelled like their apartment, like home; Shiro was looking at him intently, and Keith knew what came next. But he didn’t want to wait this time.

So, he rolled his feet forward to close their height difference, quietly leaning in to place a kiss on Shiro’s lips, his eyes screwing shut as he tried to make it a  _ good _ one. 

The hum in return was all the answer he needed, but still: Shiro broke the kiss off, his breath coming faster now, and he said, “I love it,” he said, reaching to cup Keith’s head in his hands, one hand’s fingers running through the ends of his air on his neck. “I love you,” he murmured, and leaned down to kiss him, effortlessly good, the warmth of his arms swallowing Keith whole.

Keith shivered and he knew it had nothing to do with the cold pressing in on them. “Love you too,” he murmured against Shiro’s lips, unable to shake the thought that this was perfect; too perfect. The stars above them, bright and unpolluted; Shiro in front of him, bright and incorruptible. 

“I think we should make this a tradition,” Shiro said after a long, unbroken kiss. “It’s lovely,” he said, his grey eyes focused on Keith; it wasn’t clear if he was still talking about the stars.

Keith couldn’t handle that gaze. He buried his head against Shiro’s chest with a muffled, “I’d like that.” He was so happy, he was so glad the spot he’d found all those lonely months ago was good enough. Not so lonely now, with Shiro wrapped around him and a whole holiday break to look forward to. “I’d like that a lot.”


End file.
